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Medicated to Death?

By Jonathan Beachy

Degree Finder For Nurses

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Medicated to Death?

Americans are increasingly prescribed medications that help them get more sleep, feel less stress and have more energy to accomplish a seemingly endless list of daily tasks. But is this really a good thing? Let’s take a look at how overmedication can be affecting our health.

State of Health

How much medication are we taking, and why? Nearly 7 in 10
Americans who take at least one prescription drug (1) 1 in 5
People who take five or more prescriptions (1) 100 million
Americans affected by chronic pain (2) 80%

Proportion of the world’s painkillers consumed in the United States (3) 1 in 4
American adults who are unhappy with their sleep patterns (4) 60 million
Prescriptions Americans filled for sleeping pills in 2011, up from 47 million in 2006 (5) 4 in 5
Americans prescribed antibiotics each year (6)

The Risks of Overmedication

40%
People who become addicted to benzodiazepines (like some sleeping pills or anxiety medication) after taking them daily for more than 6 weeks (7) Every 19 minutes, a person dies from prescription drug overdose (3) 2 million
Annual number of drug-resistant bacterial infections in the U.S. (8)

Causes of Overmedication?

Every patient is different, but some common themes emerge in considering potential overmedication:

Increase in chronic conditions, like heart disease and diabetes

Rapidly aging population, which means more people need to take medications